If you thought music and movies tested our friendship, let’s see how we fare after today’s version of the Top Five/Bottom Five game. I’ll warn you, there is a lot of sugar – which is odd, because I tend to choose salty over sweet (I am chips over chocolate most days). At Christmas though, for me at least, it is all about sweet comfort foods.
MY TOP FIVE CHRISTMAS FOODS
- Unbaked Cherry Cheesecake. While I’m not technically ranking things 1-5, Unbaked Cherry Cheesecake is – without a doubt! – my #1. Maybe this has stayed so high on my list because it’s a rare treat. I only have this recipe a handful of times each year – on my birthday and at Christmas. This is the Christmas dessert of my childhood, my adolescence, my teenage years, my young-married-life years, my mothering years. You get the picture: this is my Christmas dessert. To make sure there is no Christmas catastrophe (read: no Unbaked Cherry Cheesecake), I’ve already purchased cherry preserves and stocked up on butter and graham cracker crumbs for my 2023 version.
- Peanut Butter Balls. This is a Christmas-only treat and oh how I love them. Pure melt-in-your-mouth deliciousness and there is PEANUT BUTTER involved (doesn’t PB form the bottom of the Canada Food Guide pyramid these days?). They freeze well, so I make a batch in early December and bring out a few at a time as needed (and they are “needed” frequently). I only ever make these at Christmas so they are extra special.
- Cinnamon Coffee Cake. Yes, more sugar. While I make this recipe every few months throughout the year, when I was growing up it was typically only prepared at Christmas. My Mom would make up the dough on Christmas Eve and bake it in the morning while we opened our gifts. So the background scent to Christmas morning will forever be Cinnamon Coffee Cake (which in our family is just monkey bread; balls of biscuit dough, rolled in cinnamon sugar and topped with a butter/brown sugar sauce – so basically sugar on sugar on sugar).
- Turkey + most* of the fixings. I love turkey dinner, though it is a lot of work (I “cheat” at Thanksgiving and buy rotisserie chickens; so easy and almost as delicious). I always make baked potatoes, turkey, gravy, and stuffing (StoveTop; I grew up with homemade and my Mom still offers to make it but, shhhhh, don’t tell: I prefer the boxed variety). I also want my plate to include Mom’s homemade pickled beets, bread-and-butter pickles, and corn. Sometimes a bean salad, squash, and carrots also make it on the menu. *See Cranberry Sauce below
- Seafood Casserole + curried Rice with Shrimp. Ever since I met John he has been raving about his all-time favourite meal, made with love and care by his mother on special occasions as he was growing up. It’s a creamy, cheesy rich seafood casserole (shrimp, lobster, and scallops), served over curried rice with more shrimp. It is delicious and it is now our traditional “Christmas Adam” supper. The leftovers are incredible and it really and truly is far more important to John than receiving a single gift on Christmas morning. He has a countdown to when we have Seafood Casserole, not to Christmas Day.
Bonus Pick: Twizzlers. Not only am I circling back to sugar, why don’t we go ahead and throw in copious amounts of red dye for good measure? Every year for Christmas my Dad used to get licorice. Usually the black kind, which he loves. I tolerated a piece or two, but red licorice won my confectionary affection. Like Unbaked Cherry Cheesecake, I only consume Twizzlers twice a year – my birthday and Christmas. It has to be Twizzlers brand and it has to be Strawberry. It cannot be Nibs. It cannot be rope. It must be regular, red, Strawberry Twizzlers. No, it cannot be cherry. And help us all if you try to give me the cream-filled variety (the ultimate insult to Twizzler lovers everywhere). I eat an entire bag over the course of 24 hours with limited sharing. Even before I made the switch to intuitive eating, I felt zero guilt over this. Once it’s gone…it’s 6 months until I have it again and that’s fine. I don’t crave it or stop to stare at store displays. I’m perfectly content to wait until Christmas morning. Though now that everyone knows I love Twizzlers I get them a bit more frequently (THANK YOU NICOLE. I shared with my Dad and it took us 2 days…).
MY BOTTOM FIVE CHRISTMAS FOODS
- Eggnog. I can enjoy Oat Nog in my tea/coffee, but regular eggnog? It’s a hard pass from me. Also a pass on warm apple cider. Cold apple cider is fine, but once you heat it up (and, worse yet, add things like whole cloves or citrus zest) – you lose me completely. I have distinct memories of going to an “old fashioned” Christmas event at a historical museum as a kid where they served warm, spiced apple cider; I was in a terrible mood that night, so maybe that’s where my dislike of this drink was formed – guilt by association with tween angst? Regardless, I am not a fan.
- Fruitcake/Plum pudding. Sorry, all my European friends. Anything dense, filled with preserved fruit/candied citrus, or strong spicing gets a “No thanks!” from me. I used to get a small homemade fruitcake from friends each year and would immediately turn around and give it to my Dad. One year they didn’t make them, and my Dad was so conditioned to getting a fruitcake he was devastated when I showed up empty-handed.
- Cranberry sauce. To be fair, I don’t enjoy cranberries in any context. A few people in my family want cranberry sauce, but one can lasts approximately forever. I wish Ocean Spray produced mini cans! Every few years I try a nibble but then I remember that I do not enjoy cranberry sauce.
- Anything with maraschino cherries. When I was a kid my mother used to make cherry balls. An icing sugar paste was formed around a maraschino cherry center, and there was a coating that involved graham crackers and coconut. Shudder. I always disliked this recipe and she never makes it now – but they were always a hit at holiday potlucks. Why? How? Chocolate-covered cherries? A HARD pass. Yet I love fresh cherries and Unbaked CHERRY Cheesecake is my favourite holiday food. Go figure.
- Chocolate oranges/Ferrero Rocher. These are two classic Christmas chocolate treats that I loathe. Something about chocolate and orange combined is an Ick from me and I do NOT like the texture or flavour of Ferrero Rocher.
Bonus Pick: Stale Christmas treats. I love when people share holiday baking – it really is a sweet gesture on so many levels. But when they all come mixed in a box I feel like the soft ones go stiff and the stiff ones go chewy and everything seems to go stale/get broken into little crumbs SO FAST. I feel bad throwing things away, but this is the main reason I gifted local friends chocolate this year instead of homemade baking.
Okay. Your turn. Tell me everything – likes/dislikes, undying love/deep disgust for various holiday foods. I have a strong suspicion Strawberry Twizzlers won’t be topping anyone else’s list? Eggnog and fruitcake might be the most divisive love/hate items here? Surprise me! Or, try to convince me to change my stance on maraschino cherries…
Header photo by Casey Chae on Unsplash
Here is the Peanut Butter Ball recipe we’ve been making for decades in our family. Nothing crunchy. Just lots of butter and sugar! While I list a specific ratio of butter, PB, and icing sugar in the recipe below, I always ad-lib the final quantities. I like mine extra peanut-buttery, and this requires adding an extra heaping spoonful (or two) of PB. I taste the dough frequently – a hard job but someone’s gotta do it – and make micro-adjustments until I’m satisfied.
Peanut Butter Balls
Ingredients:
1/2 cup softened butter
1 cup peanut butter (I use Kraft Smooth Light, because that’s what my mother always used)
2-2.5 cups of icing sugar
1/4 teaspoon vanilla*
1/4 teaspoon salt*
*I always measure vanilla (and salt) with “my heart” so use more vanilla and less salt than the recipe calls for. I use salted butter, so only add a sprinkle of salt; if you used unsalted butter, you’d likely want to add more salt.
Directions:
Cream butter and peanut butter together until smooth with electric beaters. Add powdered sugar in 1/2 cup increments. Add vanilla and salt to taste.
- In terms of the final texture, I like it to be quite smooth and soft; adding more icing sugar will make the dough sweeter AND will result in a denser/drier consistency.
- I use the smallest Pampered Chef cookie scoop to measure out the balls and place them on a Silpat-covered baking sheet. Once all the dough has been rolled into balls, place in the freezer to chill.
- My mother never did any chocolate coating, so I ad-lib that part as well. I melt 1/2 cup semisweet chocolate chips (not milk chocolate as they tend to seize and I am on Team Semisweet forever) + 2 tsp coconut oil (I use organic refined so there is no coconut flavour; you can also use vegetable oil). The oil helps keep the chocolate smooth and thins it down for the coating process. I spoon a little dollop over the top, and put the pan back in the freezer until the chocolate is set.
Jan Coates
Oooh… You’ll get lots of comments on this one! The peanut butter balls I make have Rice Crispies in them, and they’re rolled in chocolate:) And I used to love red Twizzlers, too, but they’re different than those from when I was a kid – still tasty, but with an unsavory element of plastic, I find. And I love cranberries – real, not canned, cranberries, with minimal sugar so they stay tart. Everyone in our family makes squash casserole (one ingredient is Stove Top stuffing, so you may like it) – it’s a recipe handed down from a friend’s mother. Very good, and it freezes well. And the cookie I make for my annual cookie exchange (30 years and counting) is a simple short bread with chopped nuts and half a dark chocolate almond in the center – Don’s mother made them as jam thumbprint cookies, but I adapted to my taste. We’re cozy here in snowy Haliburton this morning. Enjoy all the pleasures of the season, edible and otherwise:)
Elisabeth
Oh Jan, these all sound incredible. Anything with peanut butter is a win for me – I’ll need to get your recipe for the squash casserole (unless it’s a tightly held secret). Shortbread is so good and elevated the way you describe…well, I can see why it has been your go-to cookie exchange.
I’m so glad you’re all settled in your winter wonderland and have the most important present of all – being surrounded by family (especially those two charming granddaughters).
Anne
Jan, I would like to respectfully request that you start a blog, specifically so you can share your recipes. Please and thank you. 😉
Colleen Martin
OK I agree with ALL your bottom foods, but I can not get on board with the turkey dinner because in America, we just ate that for Thanksgiving. Those PB balls look sooooo good! And I’m glad you are now using “Christmas Adam” in your Christmas vocab…though I think others might question what it means 🙂 It’s one of our favorite days of the year!
Elisabeth
Right – Thanksgiving is over a month early in Canada so I am more than ready for another round of turkey!
And I love calling it Christmas Adam (before your suggestion, I called it the Eve of Christmas Eve, which doesn’t have nearly as catchy a ring to it).
Nicole MacPherson
Eggnog is blech to me and always has been. People will helpfully say “oh, there’s vegan eggnog” and yes, I know. I KNOW. I do not wish to partake.
Pretty much everything on a traditional Christmas dinner table is my bottom everything. I don’t eat turkey, I don’t like mashed potatoes, stuffing is horrifying to me on every level. So, that’s fun! This year I am making all the vegetables and sides for dinner and Elisabeth, I am a little salty that I am COOKING ON CHRISTMAS. But whatever, it cannot be helped. My mom’s Yule log is my favourite thing and I will not be (obviously) getting that this year. There are some rumblings that R and J are making, so I think they are planning to try to make one to surprise me, which is wonderful. I will keep you posted.
Elisabeth
What’s horrifying about stuffing? Though I don’t actually stuff my turkey with it – I just cook it on the side.
I’m so sorry you won’t be with your mom this year, but it would be amazing if someone inside the Boy House tried their hand at a Yule Log <3
Jenny
I just made peanut butter balls! I switched from my regular recipe and made one that has rice krispies in it (otherwise it looks almost identical to your recipe) and the family loves them. I’ll have to ask them if they prefer these or the usual recipe.
When I was a kid, strawberry Twizzlers were my favorite candy. Now just the smell of them brings me right back to childhood.
We always have cinnamon rolls on Christmas morning- I make the dough and everything the night before, then they bake while we open presents. Very similar to your coffee cake!
Ha, eggnog. Does ANYONE like it? Actually someone gave us a bottle a few weeks ago and I gave it away to my daughter’s flute teacher. I was astonished that she accepted it happily.
Elisabeth
I like the ones with Rice Krispies…but not as much as the soft, smooth “normal” ones.
What is it about cinnamon that is just so festive and Christmasy.
I know a few people that like it – but a lot must actually like it because it is EVERYWHERE in the stores right now.
NGS
Eh, Christmas food is Thanksgiving 2.0 in our family (although they are making a ham for Christmas dinner this year and there is nothing I despise worse than the smell of ham *gag* – that will be a fun meal to get through), so I don’t really have much to weigh in here. But! Elisabeth, you should to top 5/bottom 5 Christmas cookies. I have STRONG feelings on this. I mean, I guess I could do my own post, but it’s more fun to sound off in your comments. (HINT: Peppermint in cookies is REPULSIVE.)
Elisabeth
Peppermint in cookies is DIVINE. We would definitely be having words on this one. I will see if I can rustle up one last festive Top 5/Bottom 5 for one of my all-time favourite blogging friends. I love when you sound off in my comments <3
I do enjoy ham but basically never eat it. Definitely not a "traditional" Canadian Christmas dinner.
Lisa's Yarns
So here is where having a dietary restriction makes life difficult. All of my favorite cookies of my pre-GF life are off-limits. Or I would have to make a GF version which then means that I would likely be the only one eating them – because if you don’t need to eat the GF version, why would you??? So that means I do zero holiday baking. My MIL makes a bunch of different things and shares them with us. Phil eats most of them, the boys will eat a few things. They seem to prefer a choc chip cookie to any Christmas baked good.
Now that I have that debbie down paragraph out of the way, of the things I can eat, I love the heath candy and peanut brittle that my mom makes. I can not make either of these things. I may need to learn at some point. I could learn how to make peanut brittle. The heath candy requires precision and the use of a candy thermometer and I have zero faith I could figure it out. My mom is very healthy so I’m counting on her being around for 25 more years so I can continue to enjoy that seasonal treat. Both of those candies do get stuck in teeth very easily so I know a lot of people do not love them but I do. Other than that, I enjoy our Christmas dinner which is usually ham, mashed potatoes, ham gravy, and a veggie side, probably asparagus. I would like to come up with a Christmas morning meal. I made homemade GF cinnamon rolls one year and they were a ridiculous amount of work and not super. So I think I need to make an eggs bake or something like that. Which the kids will certainly not eat because it has ingredients besides eggs…. I digress.
I share all of your dislikes although I’m fine w/ Ferrero Rocher. I don’t love them, I don’t hate them. I actually couldn’t tell you what they taste like or what their texture is! My least favorite is eggnog. I don’t know how anyone likes that drink. As Taco would say, “bleccch”.
Elisabeth
Ooff. That is SO hard to not be able to easily enjoy your favourite items anymore. I love heath candy; my mom always used to make peanut brittle but now she doesn’t because it’s SO hard on their teeth…and somehow it’s just not quite worth an expensive dentist visit for them. But I used to LOVE peanut brittle when I was a kid. It’s something I’ve never made because it was always “mom’s” thing.
Isn’t it the most demoralizing thing when we try a new recipe and it’s a ton of work and not even that amazing. Sigh. A major letdown!
Bleccch to eggnog. Taco is so wise.
Suzanne
I adore red Twizzlers! And I really do need to make your cherry cheesecake because my daughter would LOVE it.
Turkey is on my bottom list, always. I eat a slice at Thanksgiving and that’s the only turkey I need all year long. I think I am also going to add yule log to the bottom. I have NEVER had a good one. They are always so beautiful and expensive and then turn out to be so lackluster. Did this prevent me from ordering one this year? No it did not. Can I also say that I dislike cookie plates? Ooooh I feel so mean saying this! And also like a hypocrite, because I made cookie plates last year and handed them out to the neighbors! But I feel like they never taste that great, and I always worry about questionable kitchen hygiene and… meh.
Top Christmas treats around here are our Christmas tradition foods: beef tenderloin, garlic goat cheese mashed potatoes, Caesar salad, sticky toffee pudding. I also LOVE cranberry crumble bars, but I feel unlikely to persuade you of their magic if you dislike cranberries so deeply. That’s okay; we can still be friends, Elisabeth!
Elisabeth
They’re SO good aren’t they!? No one else I know loves Twizzlers as much as I do, so Yay!
Oh I love turkey. I don’t really crave it, but when I have it (with all the other fixings), it is just wonderful.
I’ve never had a yule log. I do have to ask – why do you buy them? For tradition or because they’re supposed to be delicious? I’m confused! Tell me more.
I’m not a fan of cookie plates, either. The flavours all mix, things get crumbly.
Your Christmas tradition foods just sound SO YUMMY. I wish I could stop by for Christmas dinner. I might even try a cranberry crumble bar since you rave about them so much – maybe I’d be converted?
Beckett @ Birchwood Pie
I hate cranberry sauce so much that we can bond over that and work out the rest of our differences. I’m also taking a note that I should make a coffee cake over the holidays. It’s something that I love that for whatever reason is very rare in my life these days and I’m not sure if the boys have ever had it. Do you have the recipe for the seafood casserole? That sounds dreamy.
Okay, now let’s move on to the fight. I LOVE EGGNOG!!!! But also I almost never have it cuz calories and the rest of the fam isn’t into it. I also almost never have fruitcake and I agree that it’s an acquired taste, but my grandfather used to give them to us for Christmas and I have good memories. I know EXACTLY how your dad felt that year. Maraschino cherries – sign me up!
The more I think about it I think that the best way for us to settle our differences is that if anyone gives you eggnog, fruitcake, or a Maraschino cherry just let me know and I will eat them for you.
Elisabeth
I don’t really have an official recipe for the seafood casserole. I make a homemade roux, add milk/cream/coconut milk (whatever – they all work), and cheese, Worchestershire sauce, onion powder, etc. Basically, make whatever white sauce you really like. If it’s too thick, I use some of the lobster water! Then just add in copious amounts of your favourite seafood, a cup of shredded cheese, a cup of bread crumbs (or crushed Ritz crackers) – stir it all together, pour into a big casserole dish, top with another cup of crumbled crackers or breadcrumbs (I prefer the crackers) and then pour 1/4 cup melted butter on top. Bake at 350 for about an hour.
EGGNOG. It’s thick…which is just no the texture I want in any beverage. And Maraschino cherries. Yeech.
I really do wish you lived handy as I would 100% give you all the fruitcake, eggnog and icky cherries that came my way.
Daria
A great post!
Top 5 holiday foods:
1. eggnog with rum aka coquito!
2. a simple sugar cookie
3. a roast
4. lamb chops for New Years
5. bacon wrapped scallops
Bottom 5:
1. Ginger bread anything
2. Cookies/desserts made by someone else (sorry!)
3. No Twizzlers.
Elisabeth
Well, I figured on the Twizzlers, but no ginger anything???!!! Oh I love those warm spices.
I’d join you for those bacon-wrapped scallops, though. You could have all my eggnog.
Shelly
My top 5
Stuffing
Mashed potatoes and gravy
A bun and butter
Mincemeat tarts
Chocolate
Bottom 5
Anything with peppermint
Chocolate and orange: who would put these together?
Ham
Beef
Cookie trays where everything takes on that weird texture and flavour
It’s funny how certain things do take us straight back to childhood. For me that’s chocolate covered cherries. They aren’t the best. But I eat one or two every year in honour of my dad.
I used to love egg nog. Especially the vegan kind but I’m over it.
These are fun posts and bring out lots of thoughts. Love it!
Elisabeth
Stuffing is so good! And I actually enjoyed the mincemeat tarts I had this year – a first for me (not a Top 5, but I thought they’d be a hard pass for me…but the woman that made them is a WIZARD with pastry).
I love that you have a chocolate covered cherry in honour of your dad <3
I do love peppermint, but my husband HATES it, so I basically eat nothing with peppermint or candy cane. But I agree with you on the cookie trays!
Anne
We are actually really aligned on the top 5/bottom 5 with two exceptions: I love (REAL) cranberry sauce, with actual cranberries and minimal sugar. Not that icky stuff that takes on the contours of the can. Yeeks.
Also, since I can’t eat turkey, well, the turkey dinner is out for me.
And Twizzlers, alas, are not actual candy. Any licorice is right out.
I guess that’s 3 BUT since I don’t actually know whether I’d like turkey if I’d been able to eat it back when I ate meat, well, I think that’s more like 0.5. 😉
I’ll come for seafood casserole, though, and stay for coffee cake and unbaked cheesecake, though, thanks. 😉
Elisabeth
Twizzlers are not candy? Ahem…we need to have words, I’m afraid.
San
Things I associate with Christmas: After Eight and Dominosteine. Also, homemade Almond Crescent Cookies + Spritz Cookies.
I can’t really think of holiday foods I dislike, but I guess I am not a fan of candy corn or twizzlers.
I want to try your unbaked cheesecake sometime. I made ‘Schmandkuchen’ this year (which is a cheesecake variety made with greek yogurt and sour cream) and it was delicious and light.
Elisabeth
Oh I love cheesecake…yum. Just seeing it written out is making my hungry. Alas, it will likely be May (my birthday) before I have it again…which makes it extra special.